


Sweeter Than Sugar

by TheDeviantSentByJericho



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders is a Sweetheart, Baking, Cotton Candy Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Familial Moxiety - Freeform, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Kinda, Morality | Patton Sanders is Anxiety | Virgil Sanders' Parent, Morality | Patton Sanders is a Good Friend, Platonic Moxiety, Platonic Relationships, Self-Esteem Issues, Sympathetic Sides (Sanders Sides), almost literally, i have never been inspired to write a fluff fic as i was today, it's the way that's intended but doesn't have to be, just fluff, no beta we die like men, they're making taffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:20:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27257827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDeviantSentByJericho/pseuds/TheDeviantSentByJericho
Summary: Patton asks Virgil to make taffy with him.
Kudos: 26





	Sweeter Than Sugar

**Author's Note:**

> this might be a bit out of character, i've legit never written fluff before

  
Virgil was _not_ having a good day.

He slumped against his bedframe, rubbing his eyes. Panic still fluttered just under his skin, spiders spreading from where the others had touched him in an attempt to help.  
It had only made things worse though.

Everything was loud, too loud, too bright- he wanted to sing, he wanted to scream, he wanted to pull at his hair and his skin just to let it all _out_ but he knew he couldn't.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and turned the music up.

As a result, he almost missed the hesitant knock at his door. "Virgil?" called a voice from outside, soft, kind. Patton. "You okay in there, kiddo?"

"I'm fine!" he called back, not moving.

There was nothing for a moment. Then, "Could you come out for a sec? I want to ask you something. But if now isn't a good time, that's okay!"

Virgil hesitated for a moment, dread coiling in his gut. But he stood and made his way to the door, tugging at his sleeves nervously. "Yeah?" he asked, once they were face to face. 

Patton seemed nervous, but he smiled upon seeing the other Side. "I was just wondering if you'd like to make taffy with me!"

"...what?"

"You know, the soft chewy candy of-"

"No, I know what taffy is, why are you asking me to help you make it?"

"Oh! Well, normally Logan helps, since it's rather precise, but I figured I'd ask you, cuz I can't do it alone."

Something about that statement made Virgil flinch. "So I'm just a replacement for Logan, then?"

Patton realized his mistake. "No! I just wanted to do something with you, and I figured you'd be good at this!" 

The look of hurt on Virgil's face changed to confusion. "Me? Good at... making something?"

"Yeah! I'm not really good at it, it's got a lot of precise things and recipes, and I get burned a lot." Patton raised his hands apologetically. "I just thought you'd be fun to make it with."

"...Oh."

"If you don't want to, that's fine!" Patton hurried to add. 

"No, I... I want to. If that's okay."

"Really?? Yay!" Patton brightened at the agreement. Literally. His blue aura flared with happiness as he grabbed Virgil by the hand and dragged him to the kitchen.

"Okay, so when that hits 159 you turn the stove off, okay?"

Virgil nodded, looking apprehensively at the candy thermometer and the boiling sugar. He was starting to regret acquiescing, until Patton smiled at him. "I'll get set up, okay kiddo? So you can pick a flavour and some food colouring! Oh, and we'll probably want some music- this will take a while. You can choose!"

Virgil was mildly surprised. "O-okay..." 

The music he chose was a lot tamer than his usual favourites, but it was still incredibly sad and rather broken. He was less surprised than he should have been when Patton started humming along, flitting around with a soft smile on his lips.

Virgil turned to his next task. Choose a flavour.

Patton had already gotten them all out for him- there was watermelon, mint, key lime, even bubblegum. He wasn't quite sure what the last one would taste like. Nor did he particularly want to.

Black food colouring and chocolate-mint flavours, he decided. When Virgil announced his picks, Patton's grin only widened. "Great choices, kiddo!" he reassured the other.

When the thermometer flicked up to 159 degrees, Virgil quickly moved to flip the burner off. Patton guided him through adding the flavour and colour as the bubbles receeded, then mixed it and poured it all onto a well-oiled tray. "Okay, we just need to move it around with these scrapers until it's cool enough to use our hands, okay kiddo?" 

Virgil hesitated, remembering what Patton had said earlier about burns. "Give me a second," he said, and rushed to grab a bag and fill it with ice. "There. For when it's too hot, since you said you can't get your hands wet at all."

"Oh! Thanks kiddo, I didn't even think of that! That's a great idea." Virgil smiled at the praise, ducking his head to hide it.

Manipulating the taffy in his hands was incredibly soothing. It was soft and smooth and oily, but just tough enough to be a tiny bit of a strain to pull. The two had to work together in some places, in order to get it right. Air bubbles made the candy slightly whiter as they worked it. Once, Patton dropped a small piece on the floor.

The Moral side reached down to pick it up. "Oops! Well, you drop it you eat it!" he said, and moved to eat it. "Don't, you could get sick!" Reminded Virgil. He may not be very good at his job, but he did do his best to keep everyone safe. Including from themselves.

"Aww, fine!" Patton tossed the candy fragment away, his tone whiny, but he was smiling.

"...Well, that doesn't look right."

"Hmm, you're right. It's way too runny. But I don't think it's gonna get any better..."

Virgil didn't know what to do. He'd screwed it up, hadn't he? He'd ruined everything, again! 

Patton pulled a piece off and ate it. "Still tastes great though!" His voice was slightly muffled from the sticky candy. He turned to Virgil, whole body faintly glowing soft blue. "Thanks for helping me kiddo, taffy's really hard but you did great!"

"I did?"

"Yeah! C'mon, try some!"

Virgil did. It was sweet, and held his teeth together in a way he probably would have hated had it not tasted so good. Virgil's eyes met Patton's, and they both smiled.

Maybe today hadn't been so bad after all.


End file.
